


only then i know why i see the warning signs

by ars_arcana



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Mentions of other characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-06-07 16:05:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6812509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ars_arcana/pseuds/ars_arcana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fragile world Tony had somehow managed to rebuild was beginning to crumble around him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	only then i know why i see the warning signs

**Author's Note:**

> i kinda got lazy with the ending,,,but i'm also super sick.  
> But honestly this was one of the moments i literally gasped in the theatre. it wasn't just me that thought Rhodey had like, actually _died_ , right?  
> and then Rhodey was alright and i almost cried.  
> and i thought "what if?" and wrote this

He doesn't even spare a glance at the quinjet as it flies away, immediately twisting around and speeding towards the falling suit, dark smoke billowing from the hole in the suit up into the blue sky.

The comm line crackles with static. Tony could barely piece together what Rhodey had said before it went dark, but FRIDAY affirms the event unfolding below him: "Boss, War Machine's completely offline." 

A million and one questions run through Tony's head. "How fast is he going? Will he make it?" he asks. "Give me something."

"Running calculations," Friday says before going silent for a brief moment. "Expected injuries are a severe concussion, likely spinal damage leading to paralysis. There is an high chance Colonel Rhodes," she pauses, "will not survive."

"Not on my watch," Tony says, gritting his teeth. Rhodey's been through a lot more harrowing situations and had come out just fine. This would be no different. Across from him, he can see Sam stretching towards Rhodey, and it makes Tony livid but glad. "Maximize thrusters, FRIDAY."

"Yes, boss."

What seems to be hours is only seconds, and Tony can see he's _not_ catching up to Rhodey like he wants to be. Fear grips his chest like a vise and he wills the suit to be a bit faster, the ground a bit further away.

He could _make_ it.

He'd snatch Rhodey right up and they'll joke about it later when their feet were planted firmly on solid ground. 

The suit, with Rhodey in it, hits the green grass with a sickening thud. Clumps of dirt fly up from the impact.

Tony hits the ground next to him not a second later, wrenching the helmet off his head and kneeling next to Rhodey's motionless body. "Rhodey?" he somehow manages to say, fingers scrambling at the clasps of the gray helmet. He tears the faceplate off and tosses it.

Tony ignores the sound of Sam alighting on the ground after him, ignores the fact that Steve and Barnes are getting away because Rhodey was more important than taking them into custody. Blood dribbles down from Rhodey's nose, bubbles from the corner of his mouth. "Vitals, FRIDAY, now!"

"Scanning. An ambulance is on the way." 

It's not until Sam speaks that Tony finally remembers he's there. He didn't even hear what he had said but glances at him with all the rage his body can muster before turning his attention back to Rhodey. He examines the spot Vision's attack had hit. It had been too close to the main power supplier and had taken everything with it; thrusters, comms, and the reboot system.

Sam tries again: "Listen, man, I'm sorry--"

He answers him with a repulsor blast to the chest, and cradles Rhodey's limp body in his arms. Tony doesn't even regret the short burst of satisfaction he gets when he hears Sam's grunt of pain when he lands some distance away.  

This could've been avoided if Steve and his friends had come in  without a fight. He hadn't even meant to use force, but Rogers had left him no choice. And now Rhodey--

"FRIDAY?" He's disgusted with how nervous his voice sounds after abandoning that train of thought. "How is he?"

"Boss, I--"

" _FRIDAY,"_ his voice wavers. 

_He wasn't dead. He wasn't dead. He wasn't--_

"He's gone. The height and velocity at which he fell--when he hit, it was instant," FRIDAY finally answers. Uncertainly, she asks, "Do you still want the ambulance?"

Tony blinks away the tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "Yeah--yeah. They'll need to--need to pick him up."

Tony doesn't know how long he sat there in that wide open field with the ironically clear sky above him, holding the dead body of his best friend and cursing the moment he had signed those damned Accords.

* * *

Somehow, he keeps himself together and makes it to the Raft, Ross's new plaything Tony bets he couldn't _wait_ to show off. It's impressive, but the fact that he put the Avengers here rubs Tony the wrong way. Clearly, Clint was feeling the same way and didn't suppress his need to tell it to Tony's face.

Tony barely notices the way Sam's face falls when he tells him Rhodey's gone.

He scrambles the Raft's feeds and asks Sam to _pretty please tell him where Cap had gone_ because now there was a bigger picture he was starting to see and it wasn't worth being headstrong about a thick stack of papers 117 countries had signed when everything was starting to collapse around him. It wasn't worth being angry over the death of his friend when it had clearly been Tony's fault for trying to bring Steve in to the authorities in the first place.

But there were bigger fish to fry and all that.

"Promise me you'll go as a friend," Sam says after telling him, as if Tony hadn't been one for the past day and trying to compromise with Steve to avoid this whole mess and other unecessary mistakes.

"Easy," Tony quips. _Whatever_. He just wanted this day to be over with and would gladly help Steve a million times over to get some peace of mind. Guilt was giving him a hell of the time at the moment and it was so much easier to ignore when there was something else to focus on. 

"I'm sorry," Sam says again and Tony gives him a tight lipped smile before leaving, promising an all too eager Ross that he'd call him never. 

Tony flies towards Siberia with all his good intentions towards Steve and Barnes somewhat intact. He'd lost Rhodey, and really wasn't keen on losing the rest of the family he's been through hell and back with for the past four years. 

That, he knows, would break him. 

**Author's Note:**

> and then everything gets worse


End file.
